The present invention relates to handguns. In particular, the present invention relates to such pistols having a polymer frame and metal slide.
Semiautomatic handguns have been manufactured and used for decades. Improvements in semiautomatic handguns have increased their sophistication and effectiveness. Generally, a handgun must be able to hit the target it is aimed at, to fire rounds repeatedly without jamming, and to fire only when the user intends to fire the handgun. Beyond these three basic concerns, a handgun should also be durable, have good balance, be easy to operate and service, be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and have consistent, reasonable trigger-pull characteristics.
The components of a semiautomatic handgun may be grouped into several subassemblies. The frame generally includes a trigger guard and a hollow handle which receives a clip containing multiple rounds of ammunition. The firing system includes a trigger, a trigger bar, a sear, a striker, and a striker spring. The slide subassembly is comprised of the slide, the breech block, and the barrel. A semiautomatic handgun captures and utilizes part of the energy released from the firing of one round to load the next round into the firing chamber. Usually, the energy taken up by the recoil of a slide is used to push the next of a series of rounds into the breech block for firing.
In recent years there has been a trend in the handgun industry to utilize polymers in the manufacture of semi-automatic pistols, particularly in fabricating unitary frames by injection molding techniques. Generally, such frames are adapted to receive a metal slide removably fitted onto the frame for slidable reciprocal movement therealong. The slide is usually secured for such movement by longitudinally spaced pairs of metal rails partially embedded in the polymer of the frame. The rails provide durable metal-to-metal contact, as with tongue and groove fittings for slidable inter-engagement between the frame and slide which are characterized by superior wear and reliable operation.
It is inherently impossible for a frame composed of polymeric and metallic materials to be formed as an integral unit. Consequently, different manufacturing techniques have been devised in order to combine two or more materials into a single frame. Conventional polymer frame handguns have generally either incorporated the metal rails into the polymer during the molding process of the polymer or utilized metal rails having portions mounted within receptacles formed in the polymer during the molding process. Each of these conventional methods has certain disadvantages.
Frames manufactured by the conventional process utilize a plurality of metal rail components which must each, individually, be partially encased in the polymer material of the frame during the molding process or partially inserted into receptacles formed in the frame during the molding process. As a result, these processes are labor intensive and expensive. Consequently, there is a need for a new handgun frame and method of assembling the frame that enables the combination and cooperation of polymeric and metallic materials into its construction.
The mechanical strength characteristics of the materials from which polymer handgun frames are generally manufactured are inferior to those of the materials of metallic handgun frames. To compensate, conventional polymer handgun frames are manufactured such that the portions of the frame which are subject to the greatest amount of stress during firing of the handgun (or in some cases the entire polymer handgun frame) have a greater thickness than comparable portions of metallic handgun frames. Such differences generally result in a less aesthetically pleasing look for the handgun. The differences may also make the handgun less comfortable to grip.
It is an object of the invention to provide a handgun frame assembly including polymer materials which is easier and less expensive to manufacture.
It is another object of the invention to provide a handgun frame assembly including polymer materials having a profile similar to all-metal handgun frames.
These and related objects are achieved in accordance with the invention by providing a frame assembly for a handgun having a frame member composed of polymer material. A metallic, one-piece, front structural member has a transverse connector encased in the front end portion of the floor of the frame member. Right and left rail segments integrally connected by the transverse connector extend laterally inward from the interior surfaces of right and left side walls of the frame member, respectively. A metallic, one-piece, rear structural member has a transverse connector encased in the rear end portion of the floor of the frame member. Right and left rail segments integrally connected by the transverse connector extend laterally outward from the exterior surfaces of the right and left side walls, respectively. The right and left rail segments of the front structural member are slidingly received in a front pair of grooves in the slide and the right and left rail segments of the rear structural member are slidingly received in a rear pair of grooves in the slide.
Generally, the front and rear structural members each also have right and left side segments connecting the transverse connector to the right and left rail segments, respectively. The right and left side segments of the front structural member are at least partially encased in the right and left side walls, respectively.
The transverse connector of the front structural member includes front, rear, and middle transverse segments forming first and second openings therebetween. The front and rear transverse segments each define an aperture extending therethrough. Polymer material of the frame member extends through the first and second openings of the transverse connector and through the apertures of the front and rear transverse segments to lock the front structural element in place.
The transverse connector of the rear structural member is a single transverse segment and has an aperture extending therethrough. An indexing element of the mold used to form the frame member is received in the aperture to position and hold the rear structural member in place during the molding operation. In addition, polymer material of the frame member flows into the portion of the aperture which is not occupied by the indexing element to lock the rear structural element in place.
Right and left polymer segments in the rear end portions of the right and left sidewalls of the frame member extend longitudinally from the rear ends of the right and left rail segments of the rear structural member, respectively. The right and left polymer segments of the frame member and the right and left rail segments of the rear structural member form right and left secondary rails, respectively.